Posted by From Chido Okafor, Warri on
CONDEMNATION continued to trail the alleged attacks on five Ijaw villages in Warri North local council by the joint task force, "Operation Restore Hope", just as the commander, Brig-Gen. Elias Zamani insisted yesterday that the raid in Ogbudugbudu on the Benin River by his men was without any casualty.
CONDEMNATION continued to trail the alleged attacks on five Ijaw villages in Warri North local council by the joint task force, "Operation Restore Hope", just as the commander, Brig-Gen. Elias Zamani insisted yesterday that the raid in Ogbudugbudu on the Benin River by his men was without any casualty.
The Ijaw want the government to probe the raids.
Yesterday, some of the Ijaw communities in Warri South West council across the Warri River namely Ogbogbene (directly opposite the Navy base), Sand Field One and Two - which were sacked recently when the joint task force team allegedly stormed them and forcibly asked the inhabitants to leave, said the attacks were callous and shocking.
Also, the Ijaw Students Association yesterday described the attacks on their villages in Egbema kingdom as acts of intimidation directed at their People in Delta State.
Moses Ogosi, spokesman of the communities, said: "You don't go and evacuate a whole community because you are fighting crime. It is not part of their mandate. The military by orientation is to wage war and the Warri Ijaw are not at war with the Federal Government.
"They (task force) attacked us as if it was a war situation and the devastation they left behind is shocking"
He alleged that some innocent Ijaw were flogged, shot, killed and some arrested, urging the state government to investigate the raids.`